[mikem1956]

There is no way to know for sure until you try it. I assume that the memory upgrade did not cause any problems. That's what I did first, and I didn't have any problems either. Have you already put the new graphics card in?

If you can upgrade successfully, that will show me that I either have a corrupted file or a failing power supply.

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My card is set to be delivered to my house on friday, so i'll give you an answer then.

[Keyne]

My card is set to be delivered to my house on friday, so i'll give you an answer then.

[mikem1956]

I have done a clean install of XP. The computer worked like it should, no lags or other weird problems. I have also added my additional hard drive and upgraded to 512mb ram. Still working without a hitch. I'm going to leave it that way for a day or two before I add the new graphics card.

In talking to my wife and kids, the computer seemed to be running slowly in general. My wife said that there would be a hesitation when she typed, similar to the hesitation I saw in the mouse and in Microsoft Pinball. Right now, now hesitation.

Could a corrupted file have caused that?

If a computer power supply gets overloaded, what effects would I see?

I remember a long time ago with 386 machines that the motherboard would have a switch that you could use to slow down the processor. Does anyone remember that, and do computers still do it?

I'll keep you posted as to how this proceeds. I hope it is fixed.

[HyDekar]

Keyne,

'To avoid confusion, do not post your question in someone else's topic. Please start your own.'

As for power problems, do you know exactly what your powersupply is wattage wise?

[Stasiek]

there is a label on the power supply that lists it's watts.

you mentioned that you also added the memory upgrade. remove the recently added memory and run it with only the initial memory that was on the system. it could be that the memory is causing a hickup do to timing or incompatibility.

the power supply(psu) it has a max power (watts) that it can handle depending on the demand. if your psu is 200 watts and all your hardware connected to it demand a total of 250 watts your going to have a psu failure/slow down/glitches/hardware failure.

[mikem1956]

My computer is rated at 250 watts.

[Doby]

Glad to see your making progress and its plain to see that because of the reinstall that the system is working good even with part of the upgrades installed.

So I don't think you have a hardware problem at all rather you had a spyware or virus or something because of the slowness of the system reported by your wife. Then when you installed the video drivers the problems progressed and became more noticable.

I would go ahead and install the new graghics card but first get all the crtical MS updates and use Adaware to scan for any spyware that could come in with the updates or general internet use.

It is still possible that the psu won't be good enough with the new card installed but according to the manufactuer a 250w is but that also depends on what else is installed in the system, but you now have it narrowed down thru the process of elimination

keep us posted

[mikem1956]

I will be adding the new graphics card in the next couple of days. Before I do that, I would like to create a backup of my current system so that I don't have to go through the reinstall again (very time consuming). Is using a restore point the best way to do that, or should I create a mirror image all the c: files on my d: drive? If I have problems, then I can reinstall to a working system quickly.

[Doby]

Its a good idea to create a restore point any time you add hardware or software but I would also create the mirror just in case the restore point don't work.

You should be backing up all important data that you cannot lose anyway just in case a drive fails.

Rick

[mikem1956]

I added the new graphics card, and everything is working ok. I guess that means that the problem was a corrupted file. Thanks for all the help.

[Doby]

Your welcome and glad your all fixed up

Rick